Tender Hearts
by Iryl
Summary: [Complete] Alternate Reality. The four families (Ryuuzaki, Hououji, Shido, and Royal) meet every Christmas to enjoy the holiday together. They are old friends, but what problems will surface when their children start growing up?


**Family Relations:**   
Mr&Mrs Ryuuzaki: Umi-Lantis-Zagato   
Mr&Mrs Shido: Hikaru-Presea-Lafarga   
Mr&Mrs Hououji: Fuu-Ascot-Caldina   
Mr&Mrs Royal: Ferio-Clef-Emeraude 

~~Knights 2yrs: Christmas~~   
A woman with brilliant red hair served cookies, her tall, elegant dark-haired friend coming after her with a tray of eggnog. "Michi," the red-haired woman said, "I'm so glad you could bring the children."   
    The dark-haired woman smiled, "Yes, and little Lafarga and Presea are getting so /big/!"   
    "Yes, but Hikaru will be catching up to them quickly enough." The red-haired woman looked over to a small red-pigtailed child wobbling on her chubby baby legs.   
    "Oh, look, how cute! We have to take a picture! Hurry!" a beautiful blonde woman with golden eyes, Mrs. Royal, waved as another pink-haired woman, Mrs. Hououji, grabbed a camera and snapped a photo of little Ferio and Fuu sharing a sweet, innocent baby-kiss.   
    "Mwah!" chubby little Ferio Royal smacked, and Fuu blushed, turning away, before pushing her adorable face into his, batting shimmering emerald eyes and gave him a big sloppy kiss, knocking the little boy over. By then, everyone was watching, and Fuu's playmates decided to follow suit, as Hikaru thoughtfully looked from the pair to Lantis playing silently nearby before tackling him happily, and Ascot snuck a peck on Umi's cheek, before blushing and giggling happily as she tried to swing her tiny baby fist into contact with the fleeing little boy. On the couch, the slightly older five-year-old Emeraude pressed her lips to Zagato's cheek, wrapping her arms in a vice around the little boy as he blinked and fell over by her weight.   
    Mrs. Hououji had a field day snapping pictures of all the adorable antics, and finally slumped into a chair with her husband, a brown-haired man who wrapped his arms fondly around his exhausted wife. 

~~Knights 10yrs: Christmas~~   
"But Mooom!" Ferio Royal pulled at the tight neck on his sweater as they reached the huge house, snow surrounding the enormous grounds. Every Christmas, the four families would pool their money to rent this lodge, and they reserved it as soon as possible every year.   


    "Ferio," the golden-haired woman warned. "You be nice to those girls, and no more putting snow down their dresses, OR knocking the snowmen down with your sled. You all BE-HAVE!"   
    "Yes'm," Clef and Emeraude replied at the same instant. Ferio was a little slower and a lot more grumbling in his answer, but he finally did. 

"Here, Umi!" Ferio shouted, smiling to the beautiful blue-haired girl. She turned, like a snow-angel, to smile at him, before chucking a snow-ball in his direction as he threw his at her.   


    She screamed, laughing, and ran behind the rather geeky Hououji Fuu, using the blushing girl as a sort of shield. Umi ran, hair flying, and Ferio chased her behind a tree where he tossed some snow into her hair . . . and gave her her first kiss.   
    That night, Umi and Ferio held hands under the table, talking and wrapped up only in themselves. Fuu sat with her brother, Ascot, doggedly eating her dinner and smiling at all of Hikaru's jokes, determined that she would not cry.   
    The truth was, that Fuu had always had the biggest crush on Ferio Royal, and it hurt to see her best friend with him, though she would never make Umi unhappy by telling her so. Fuu only vowed to get over the handsome, charming boy, and be done with him by next Christmas. 

~~Knights 14yrs: Christmas~~   
Umi sighed and sat down softly on her bed, looking dully at Hikaru and Fuu where they sat with their pajamas on, suitcases for the trip to the Christmas Lodge in the Ryuuzaki's living room. "I wish I felt worse about breaking up with Ferio, but I don't. I only feel bad because I'm not sad about losing him, just that /he's/ feeling bad."   


    "It'll be okay, Umi-chan," Hikaru piped up encouragingly.   
    "Yes, Umi-san, I'm sure you'll both be fine." Fuu smiled, though a little sadly, thinking of Ferio. Then she hardened her heart, determined not to care and get herself hurt again.   
    "Well, I'd feel better if you set me up with your brother, Fuu," Umi twinkled, then laughed at Fuu's expression. "I know, I'm shameless, but I can't help it!" She rolled over to look at Fuu. "Besides, you know what I think? I think you and Ferio would be /perfect/ for each other. He's really smart and funny and sweet, and he needs someone after the breakup." Fuu smiled politely, ready to decline as she cringed inside. She was trying so hard to forget her feelings about Ferio, it would be torture to have them trying to set her up with him, that elusive scent of hope clinging to them, spiraling her hopes so high before she would inevitably crash down . . . no, she couldn't do that, it would kill her.   
    "Thank you, but," Fuu didn't have a chance to finish her sentence before she was interrupted.   
    "No, I am /going/ to set you guys up. That's final." Umi grinned at Hikaru. "It'll give me something to do. And you can get me together with your brother in the meantime," she nudged the distressed Fuu.   
    Dear God, this wasn't good. Fuu closed her eyes and sent out a silent prayer that her heart would not be broken this trip. 

"Come on, Fuu, wear this to dinner," Umi urged, making Fuu slip into a pretty, dark green winter dress. "I'm sure Ferio will like it," she grinned, and Fuu's heart thumped oddly, her cheeks darkening.   


    "I - I guess . . ." she looked at herself in the mirror, seeming a little older and more elegant, a little like Umi, than she had before, "so."   
    They went to dinner, where Ferio anxiously avoided Umi's unhappy glances, and completely ignored poor Fuu sitting beside him.   
    Fuu silently cried herself to sleep that night. 

~~Knights 16yrs: Christmas~~   
"Oh, Fuu, are you ready for this tonight?" Umi asked, her eyes bright. The slender girl nodded, offering a genuine smile. Umi had finally let go of trying to set Fuu up with Ferio last year, and the flaxen-haired girl had managed to ignore her feelings for the boy, if not get rid of them altogether.   


    Fuu discarded her glasses for contacts, and slipped on a pale green silk dress, it's simple lines elegant, before applying a bit more lip gloss to her pretty pink mouth. Umi was wearing a pale blue gown, and Hikaru had on a soft dusty rose. The dresses were all similar in that they had simple lines, almost no extras to distract the eye from the pure, flowing color, and a line that floated over their torsos, slimming to their waists and flowing out into skirts that fell to their ankles.   
    Fuu was determined not to care about Ferio tonight. She would not concentrate on him, she would not care what he thought of her performance tonight.   
    But a little voice deep inside whispered that it /did/ matter . . . it mattered terribly.   
    Umi would sing, with her beautiful golden voice, and Hikaru would dance. Fuu would back them up with her violin. They had been practicing for this performance all year, and it was finally time to do this.   
    "Wow, Fuu-chan," Hikaru gazed in amazement, "you look so elegant!"   
    Fuu smiled sweetly. "Oh, I'm nowhere near as pretty as either of you."   
    "Fuu," Umi sat her friend down earnestly, "I know I'm beautiful, and Hikaru is definitely charming, but you are the sweetest and most adorable girl I have /ever/ seen, inside and out. I look gorgeous, yes," Umi tossed the curls styled on her head playfully, "and Hikaru looks lovely," she shot a smile over at the red-head who had taken her hair from it's perpetual braid to let it hang loose and wavy about her shoulders, "but tonight you have made that transfer from absolutely adorable, to perfectly elegant." Fuu blushed a little, and they were called downstairs. Fuu picked up her violin and followed the other two down, her heart contracting in a sudden pang of anxiety.   
    They stepped out onto the ballroom stage. Chairs had been set up for the rest of their family members in the middle of the room, and the lights were low as the girls prepared themselves. Fuu was beside Umi on the side of the stage, both with microphones, as Hikaru posed ready behind. She had been taking ballet as long as Fuu had violin lessons and Umi voice lessons, each for several years.   
    The soft lights flickered on and Fuu began her first, pure note, shining out like a clear diamond in the air. The next note filtered out, sparkling in it's beauty, and the third, fourth, and Umi began to sing, as Hikaru's graceful body turned and flowed to the music, the three elements spiraling into a sweet story of life, love, and pure beauty.   
    Fuu's bow lighted over the strings, her eyes closed as she let her soul out into the dark room, poise and elegance making her shimmer like an evening star on the stage. Ferio wondered at the emerald-eyed goddess who had replaced gangly Fuu Hououji and stood with ultimate grace next to the girl who had broken his heart. He felt the golden cords of music wrapping around that pain to heal him, and watched as the final strand lingered and faded into the air, and the endless emerald orbs opened, slightly dazed at the thunderous clapping that greeted them.   
    Afterwards was a lavish dinner, where compliments were showered on the girls. Umi took them with grace, Hikaru with smiles, and Fuu with charming blushes. Afterwards, some of the families sat around the fire to talk and some went up to sleep, but Fuu wanted to take a walk in the snow, so she took her winter cloak and violin, planning to do a little practicing in the charming little white gazebo, a clump of trees cutting it off from the rest of the grounds so that she could get some peace.   
    Fuu braced her violin against one slender shoulder, and brought her bow up, fixing her favorite melody in mind. It was a winsome, haunting tune, and though she had sworn against him, it always brought Ferio to mind. The notes swept out sweetly, almost without conscious thought, whispering her love of him to the chilly winter air, and she felt tears coming to her eyes, stinging under creamy lids.   
    "That was beautiful," Fuu's eyes snapped open to meet honey-gold through her own crystalline tears. "Would you play something else?" She blinked, disoriented, then remembered her resolve not to care, and put the instrument back against her shoulder, cooly bringing the bow against the violin's strings and melting out a soothing cord, long enough to sate his wish and hopefully make him leave. When her eyes opened again, he was gazing at her in a way that made her heart palpitate oddly and left her short of breath. Yet she pushed these feelings away roughly and returned the gaze with as much indifference as she could muster. "Thank you," he murmured, smiling to her, and for the first time she noticed the wetness in his eyes. Her heart immediately softened, and she reached out a hand to him.   
    "Are you okay?" she asked gently, handing him her silk handkerchief to wipe his eyes on. He took it, but caught her hand as well and held it in his, the tears he had been holding spilling over as his thumb caressed the delicate, slender fingers.   
    Bringing her hand to his cheek, Ferio noticed Fuu's already wind-reddened cheeks burn crimson, then slipped the winter glove off of her soft white hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. "You looked beautiful tonight," his lips brushed over her fingers again and Fuu's heart fluttered in her chest as those golden orbs burned into her.   
    With a quick indrawn breath, Fuu jerked her hand away from him and bolted, holding the violin to her chest as if it were the last shreds of soul she had not yet lost.   
    "Fuu," she had stopped behind the clump of trees nearby, and he found her there, touching her slender shoulder as her back was to him. "Fuu, I'm sorry."   
    "Why?" she spun on him, eyes painful and accusing, tears sliding down smooth rosy cheeks, "Why do you do this to me?" Her voice broke and she brought her hands to her face, shoulders shaking as she cried.   
    "Fuu," Ferio took her trembling form into his arms, distressed. "Fuu, don't cry. Please don't cry." He felt her calm and sniffle, shifting to look up at him with those entrancing green eyes. Caught in her gaze, his lips touched hers and they were caught into a sweet, tender kiss, expressing everything never said between them. Parting for breath, Ferio nuzzled the soft skin before her ear and breathed to her, "that was . . . amazing. I feel so strange, as if . . . we were meant for each other . . ." He snorted softly, "I must sound insane to you."   
    "No," Fuu held him and gloried in the feeling of his closeness. Moved as he continued to nuzzle that tender spot, she bent her head to lay soft kisses on his neck, making him tighten his arms around her and moan in happiness.   
    A chilly wind knifed sharply between them, and Fuu suddenly realized where she was. Who she was with.   
    A scene of when she was thirteen flashed through her mind: she had suddenly come in on Ferio and Umi in the pantry, kissing with all the tenderness and passion of young lovers. Fuu's heart had ripped apart at that time, and she felt the pain again, cutting through her like a cold knife and tearing her from all the warmth she had just experienced with Ferio.   
    She couldn't get hurt again, she just couldn't!   
    Fuu pushed violently away and ran, fleeing as if the three-headed dog of Hades was chasing her, when the only thing that followed was a single torn call of her name. 

~~Knights 22 yrs: Fuu's Apartment~~   
Fuu balanced her violin case on one hip while holding a bag of groceries on the other and trying to get the keys from where she held them in her teeth to the apartment door's keyhole. Managing to get inside without dropping anything, she tossed her keys on the table, set the violin on the couch, and placed her groceries onto the kitchen counter. Spying the flashing answering machine, she pressed "Play" and listened to it as she put the groceries away.   


    _"Hey baby, this is mom, I was just checking to see how your career in Europe is going and make sure you come to the next Christmas party. Everyone misses you, you haven't been to so many of the Christmases, baby, and we were hoping you could make it this time."_ Fuu smiled, remembering how she broke her leg at seventeen and had to stay home, then started touring with the violin the last few years and had been in other countries, having to miss them. _"The girls want to see you terribly, and have been asking me about you, so you better come this year, or we'll think you hate us. I love you, sweetie, call me!"_ Fuu's smile turned into a grin as she shook her head, noting the bit of a guilt-trip her mother had thrown in to persuade her.   
    The phone rang after she had finished putting away her bag of things and she picked it up, happy to hear the voice on the other end. "Nabiki," she cut in before the other woman could continue, "I'm going to see family this Christmas. Clear me those three weeks." They bartered for a little while, but Fuu won and the days she would have off were set, with only two gigs planned in the city she would be staying near. Once done with Nabiki, she dialed up her mother, and, getting the answering machine, left a brief message: "I'll be there for Christmas. Meet you at the estate, love you, bye!"   
    Fuu sat thoughtfully and picked up a picture frame from beside the couch. It was of her standing with Hikaru and Umi, their arms thrown about each other as they grinned at the camera. Fuu had sent and received various letters from her two friends, and learned of their flourishing careers. While she was touring, doing concerts and shows with her violin, she was studying by mail to become a doctor; Umi had taken up modeling to pay for her classes to become a professional chef; and Hikaru had gotten engaged to Umi's brother Lantis after becoming a very desired dance teacher.   
    Fuu sat her slender frame back and sighed happily. It would be nice to see them all again. 

~~Knights 22 yrs: Christmas~~   
Fuu arrived at the estate and allowed one of the servants to take her bags in, wanting to look around the snow-thick grounds a little before going in and being accosted by her entire family. Rubbing her arms under the dark green sweater, she trudged around to the side of the house and found herself wandering toward the old gazebo, blocked from view of the house by a clump of trees that had heavily grown.   


    Catching sight of the white structure, Fuu paused in her tracks and stared. There was a figure standing against one of the gazebo columns, his back to her and green hair stark against the white backdrop of snow. Watching him, she noticed the feminine winter glove he held absently in one hand, then started as he sighed and turned.   
    Ferio stopped as he saw the creamy woman behind him, gazing at him with the brilliant emerald eyes he would never forget, that he had – in fact – just been thinking of. He felt his face break into a warm, relieved smile as he trotted to her, looking down into her face. "Konichiwa, Fuu," he greeted her softly, and the delicate creature before him blushed.   
    "Konichiwa, Ferio-san," she replied uncertainly, and his heart sank a little at the unfamiliar term placed with his name.   
    Eyes sparkling, he bent and murmured to her, "Why so formal, Fuu-chan? I thought we were friends."   
    Fuu blushed a little more and turned her face away, disconcerted with the way he was looking at her . . . and how near he was. "Never that close, Ferio," she replied softly, lowering her lids over those shining windows, then gasping as arms wrapped around her and pulled her to a strong chest.   
    "We were once," he whispered in her ear, making chills run down her spine. "I wouldn't mind being that close again." A kiss placed strategically on her jaw turned her legs to jelly, and she wondered how many other women he had done this to.   
    _Thousands_, she guessed, remembering a magazine article on Ferio Royal, the playboy lawyer and part-time model. Feeling that she was only going to be another notch in his proverbial belt, Fuu pushed away and turned coldly, speaking with all the contempt she had tried to gather for him. "I _would_ mind." She strode toward the house, not looking back so that she did not see the flush spread over his face or the stricken look enter his golden eyes. 

"Hikaru! Umi!" Fuu cried and ran forward, embracing the pair. "Oh, I missed both of you! You look wonderful!"   


    "Fuu-chan!" Hikaru threw her arms around her friend and Umi stood back, waiting for her turn, "We missed you too!"   
    "I have to show you my portfolio," Umi stated in excitement as she embraced her flaxen-haired friend.   
    "I heard about your engagement," Fuu turned to Hikaru, her eyes shining. "Congratulations."   
    "It's a fortunate match for Lantis, too," Fuu turned, startled, to see Ferio and Lantis behind her, the former having spoken and now stood smiling by his taller friend.   
    "As I should know," Fuu collected her wits and smiled warmly at Umi's brother. "Hikaru is one of my best friends."   
    "And he's going to take good care of her, or we're going to beat him up," Umi grinned, throwing an arm around both of the women as Hikaru smiled and blushed sweetly.   
    "Stop," the red-haired woman protested weakly, her cheeks burning.   
    Fuu laughed. It felt so good to be here again, and it was so wonderful to laugh with them again, that she couldn't stop the tears that came as she leaned against the wall. A wave of heat enveloped her as she swiped at her cheeks – she could _feel_ Ferio's eyes on her – and, stepping forward as she spied her suitcases, fell into heat and darkness. 

"She has a terrible fever," Fuu heard as she began to regain consciousness, feeling something cold on her forehead, her body awash in heat so that she struggled to push the heavy blankets off of herself.   


    "Unh," she groaned, rolling over and pushing herself up, kicking futilely to get the cumbersome covers off of her sweat-drenched legs.   
    "Baby," she heard her mother's voice and fell back onto the bed, face buried in her pillow as the sweat trickled down her neck. A gentle hand stroked her hair and Fuu moaned.   
    "It's _hot_," she got into her pillow, kicking again at the blankets and finally getting them off.   
    "Do you feel any better, sweetie? You've been asleep for two hours." Fuu turned over to better observe her mother and noticed a few things.   
    One: she had been put into a nightgown that clung to her sweaty body and showed her curves quite effectively. Fuu Hououji, violinist, had retained her delicate, slender form for all these years, but with the coming of womanhood, had gained that faintly full curvaceousness due every female of childbearing years. Note Two: there were other people in the room. Namely Hikaru, Lantis, Umi, Clef, Fuu's siblings Ascot and Caldina, her mother, her father, and . . . Ferio.   
    Struck by the indecency of her situation, Fuu reached to pull the sheet back up with shaking hands, holding it tightly to her chest as her cheeks burned and her body was again washed in heat, a headache forming. Fuu put one hand to her head and curled into a protective ball on the bed as her mother asked if she needed anything.   
    "I can get you some soup," she offered, and Fuu nodded, wishing they would all go away and let her put off the sheet. Finally, Clef (a doctor, himself), shooed everyone out and told her that it was most likely she had gotten sick after working herself so hard, that some rest and food would do her wonders and she would be better in no time.   
    Fuu nodded and thanked him, watching him go and then locking the door behind him, turning on the overhead fan and closing the curtains before she threw all of her covers over the foot of her bed and shucked off her nightgown, standing with the fan blowing on her overheated body as the tears flew down her cheeks.   
    The odd thing was, she didn't know exactly why she was crying, but she knew it had something to do with Ferio. 

~~Later that Evening~~   
Ferio approached the door and eyed the knob dubiously, then attempted to balance the heavy tray he was holding on one arm while opening the door with the other hand before his burden could crash to the floor. Her mother had asked him to take the tray up to her, since she had to help Emeraude bathe her two-year-old.   


    Luck was with him and he entered, eyes grazing over the woman asleep on the bed before setting the tray on a table nearby. Walking over to Fuu, he noticed her curled into a ball under the heavy blankets, shivering.   
    This sudden change in her body temperature succeeded in worrying the young man, and his brow furrowed as he saw her shift restlessly in her sleep, pulling the blankets tighter around her sweet slim neck. She moaned something, turning over violently, and Ferio put his hands on her in concern.   
    "Fuu," he murmured, pressing his lips softly to hers for a moment and then drawing away. Was this what he was down to? Stealing kisses from a sleeping, feverish woman? Even if she was as beautiful as wind chimes, delicate as a songbird, and had a soul to match the purest zephyr . . .   
    "Ferio," the whisper came clearly to his ears, and he jumped slightly, afraid she had awakened. After a thorough study, he concluded that she was still asleep. But she had said his name . . . after he kissed her . . .   
    "What are you dreaming of, sweet bird?" he mused, stroking a few strands of hair from her heated forehead, and her eyes fluttered open to gaze at him in confusion for a moment. "Sweet dreams?" he asked, smiling faintly, but she didn't seem to get the joke.   
    "I had a nightmare," she lay her head back on the pillow, as if it was too much for her slender neck to support, and stared at the ceiling.   
    "You didn't seem to be having one just now," he looked at her curiously, and she gave an odd look to the ceiling before turning to him.   
    "What?" she looked confused, and a little embarrassed. "I had a nightmare. Are you making fun of me?"   
    "No, no," he assured, "It just didn't seem like you were having one just now. You smiled."   
    "Oh," she looked back up at the ceiling and was caught by a shiver, pulling the covers further up under her chin.   
    "I mean," he continued in a careful tone, "you seemed to be having a bad dream when I came in, so I kissed you and it seemed to calm you down. You even said my name." He was smiling at her now, but though she was now looking at him, her horrified stare was not exactly what he had hoped for.   
    In a flash he recognized the shimmering of tears in her eyes and saw the one quick, sobbing breath she took before slapping him – hard, with the full force of her arm behind it.   
    Ferio's mind reeled in pain and horror, angry humiliation mixing with overwhelming shame as he turned back to only a shaking lump beneath the blankets. He stood, staring at the bed numbly for another moment before leaving.   
    When Fuu came up from the blankets, she found the tray but could eat nothing on it. 

~~Three Days Later~~   
Fuu stood in the gazebo, looking out into the white-blanketed forest beside her. She had gotten better the last few days, regaining her strength, but the pain and humiliation of her encounter with Ferio still stung her, and Fuu knew she could not stay near him any longer.   


    Though completely silent, she still did not hear the crunching footsteps approaching her before the figure spoke.   
    "Why do you hate me, Fuu?" Ferio asked, and she whirled to stare at him in surprise, wide green eyes meeting wounded gold.   
    "I . . ." she stumbled, then organized her thoughts, biting back at him. "I don't hate you. I just don't like you."   
    "Why?" he stepped forward, gaze intense as he demanded answers.   
    Fuu brought herself up against his challenge, and she reached into her bag on the gazebo's bench, pulling out a folded and worn paper before handing it silently to him. It was the magazine article about him – describing him as a playboy and a heartbreaker – and she could see the lines in her mind as he scanned them. When he turned again, she felt vindicated and faced him with every ounce of courage she had, scraping it together desperately from the dredges of her mind.   
    But nothing could have prepared her for his face.   
    Fuu's courage crumpled under the gaze of those stunned, probing eyes. Her will evaporated in the intensity of his pain, and all her reasons felt as foolish as childscrawls under that look of betrayal.   
    His voice was worse. It was hoarse with repressed emotion, and it hit her like a knife gutting at her heart.   
    "You . . . _believed_ this stuff?"   
    Those eyes would torment her forever.   
    "You _believed_ it?" his voice ran on a high, careening note and his face was twisted in horror. Fuu tried to keep some of her self-possession about her, but under that gaze it was nearly impossible. He shook his head, "I can't believe this!" Those golden eyes looked at the paper crumpled in his hand and his face washed furious as he clenched the paper into his fist and threw it violently into the trees and the snow. Fuu took a slight step back, afraid of him, but he didn't come any nearer to her, only caught her frightened eyes with his, those shining orbs now darkened with coldness. "Fine. You obviously _want_ to hate me, so I'm not going to stop you." He turned, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, and strode away.   
    Fuu stared after him, feeling a cold wind blow through her soul as a little voice commented: _Well, you got what you wanted._   
    "Yes," she murmured to the wind and the snow. "Yes, I did." A single tear found its way down her cheek. 

~~Later that Day~~   
"Honey, what are you doing?" Fuu ignored her mother as the elder woman looked on in concern. "Fuu."   


    "I'm going home," she finally spoke, watching the cabman load her bags into his trunk from behind her dark sunglasses.   
    "Why?" her mother asked, and Fuu knew what would come if she didn't leave soon.   
    "I love you, mom. See you next year," Fuu gave her mother a cool kiss on the cheek and walked toward the car, leaving the other woman standing on the stoop in confusion. As the cabby opened her door for her, she saw a blue truck pulling up to the estate, skis and sleds piled into the back. Most of the others had gone skiing, which is why Fuu dared leave now, when they couldn't make her stay. She slipped into the taxi before the truck stopped and looked apprehensively over her shoulder as the driver got in and adjusted his instruments.   
    "Go," she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice as she saw everyone piling out of the truck, looking at the taxi in confusion. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of their confusion, and her mother trotted over to them, talking rapidly. "_Go!_" she ordered, her voice banking in terror. If caught, she would have to explain herself and she couldn't, she just couldn't!   
    Taking off her sunglasses, she rubbed swollen eyes that stung with fresh tears.   
    How could she tell them she hurt the man she loved? 

"She's leaving." Ferio heard Mrs. Hououji as if in a dream, watching the taxi pull out of the yard.   


    If they had only been a few moments earlier . . .   
    "Where's she going?" he heard Hikaru ask, but didn't register the red-haired girl's worried face. All he could concentrate on was the answer.   
    "The airport," her mother replied, "I heard her tell the driver."   
    "But we barely got to see her," Umi frowned. She would have said more, but stopped to watch Ferio tear his way to the truck, nabbing the keys from Lantis and throwing himself in, working desperately to get the machine started as the other men finished unloading the gear. They watched as Ferio Royal sped away, a desperate light in his eyes that didn't – quite – explain everything. 

Ferio ran into the airport, looking frantically around and getting a sinking feeling that there wasn't enough time, that there would never be enough time to find her. He glanced back briefly at the cop car caught behind his abandoned blue truck, then dismissed it as unimportant.   


    He had to find her.   
    That was the only thought pounding through Ferio's mind as he climbed onto a trash can and looked over the heads of various people, searching for her. "Fuu," he murmured, then caught sight of a familiar head on the escalator. "_Fuu_!" he yelled, jumping down and running toward the moving stair, not caring about the funny looks he got. He got to the top and spotted the woman, running to her and turning her around.   
    Wide blue eyes. It wasn't Fuu.   
    "Sorry," he muttered, dejected, and let the frightened woman go, then looked around again. He saw a cop frown and walk toward him, but didn't care. He kept looking for Fuu.   
    "Excuse me sir," Ferio turned around and stared blankly at the cop, then interrupted him.   
    "What flight would a woman get on to go to Europe?" he asked quickly, desperate.   
    The cop paused a moment, then frowned. "Where in Europe?"   
    Ferio stared at him, his mind completely blank, and crumpled. "I don't know!"   
    "Gate A7," a heavily accented voice said from behind, and the pair turned to the pink-haired woman.   
    "Caldina!" Ferio exclaimed, throwing himself on her and giving her a grateful hug. "How'd you get here?"   
    She winked. "Followed you, toots, now where's that gate?"   
    The policeman pointed blankly down the corridor and the pair took off, running and dodging old people with little children.   
    "The plane should be there now!" Caldina panted as they ran, and Ferio increased his speed.   
    A2 . . . A3 . . . A4 . . . A5 . . . A6 . . . Ferio spotted the gate number and raced to the stewardess as a little girl and her mother boarded. "I have to get someone off that plane," he panted, shaking the startled woman.   
    "Do you have a ticket?" she asked, blinking at him.   
    "No! That's why I have to get her off!" he rolled his eyes as if the stewardess was stupid.   
    "Hon, let go of her," Caldina commented, eyeing his vice-grip on the poor woman. Ferio did, as if just realizing himself, and shifted quickly from foot to foot.   
    "Please," he begged, and the stewardess took a step back, looking at him oddly.   
    "Aren't you . . ." her eyes lit up and she smiled widely, "You're Ferio Royal! My favorite model!" Ferio let out a breath in relief and he nodded as the stewardess let him in, but not Caldina, telling him he had to get off before the plane left.   
    Ferio paced down the aisle nervously, scanning the rows for a silken chestnut head. Finally, in the back, he found her.   
    "Fuu, come with me," he told her, his voice neither soft nor hard, and she turned from the man she had been speaking to.   
    "Ferio," she breathed, her eyes wide and frightened. His heart tore to see her looking at him like that, but he pushed his emotions down and repeated his demand. Her head bowed in sadness and she shook it, "No, I'll only make everyone upset."   
    Ferio's anger got the better of him and he knelt. "You've already upset everyone by leaving. Umi and Hikaru are probably crying, thinking it was their fault for your leaving, your mother is probably kicking herself, blaming herself, everyone else is feeling bad because they are and getting angry at you for running away and doing this to them!"   
    Fuu's head stayed bent and sudden splashes of wet on her dress told him she was crying, but instead of feeling sympathy, Ferio grabbed her arms and shook her.   
    "Stop it! Stop being so selfish Fuu! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You're coming back and that's that!" He started to think he was being too rough as he saw her doe-like eyes widen and spill over with more tears.   
    "Hey," the man she was sitting by stood up and glared at Ferio. "You leave that poor girl alone, she's been through enough thanks to you!"   
    Ferio glared back. "Mind your own business," he grated.   
    "No!" the man leaned over Fuu, "I want you to apologize to her."   
    "I want you to sit back before I hurt you," Ferio replied in a low voice.   
    "No," Fuu said softly, and their attention turned to her as she held Ferio's shoulders gently. "Go on back, I need some time alone."   
    He looked at her a moment before nodding. "I see," he said, then scooped her into his arms and carried her forcibly out. "I told Caldina I was going to bring you out and I'm no liar," he explained.   
    "My purse," was the only protest given, silenced as her seat-mate brought it to the terminal for them. To tell the truth, Fuu liked being in Ferio's arms, for all the indecency of it. It didn't matter so much that he hated her, as long as she could remember being this close to him, smelling him, touching him.   
    _I love you_, she thought to him, laying her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes peacefully.   
    "Caldina," Ferio spoke to her softly, "could you get the car?"   
    "Sure," she eyed her sister in this man's arms, curled up like a trusting child, and smiled. "On one condition," he looked at her curiously and she mouthed: "Tell her." Ferio's eyes went wide as the shapely woman walked away, then looked down into the sleepy face of the woman he had missed for years. All the time she had been away, he realized something was missing. Something precious and vital to his happiness. Then when she had returned, he had found that missing piece, but in it something terrible: she hated him.   
    The pain that realization had spurned left him angry and frustrated, not knowing what to do with the burning passion and adoration he held for her. The simplicity of her hatred, the single-mindedness . . . he had finally taken all of his emotions out on her, and driven her away.   
    Realizing how odd he must look as the stewardess closed the door, Ferio set his sweet burden into one of the cold plastic chairs, kneeling at her feet as she blinked sleepily down at him.   
    "I don't know how to begin, really," he looked at the armrest, resisting the urge to take one of her hands and kiss it. "I _am_ sorry. For yelling at you at the estate . . . and for being so mean on the plane."   
    "I deserved it," she whispered, but he silenced her with a finger.   
    "No, you didn't deserve to be treated cruelly. I should have kept my temper."   
    "But," she protested and he cut her off with a look.   
    "No, Fuu. I was wrong."   
    She bowed her head and murmured, "Yes, you were."   
    Ferio sighed, feeling an odd pang of disappointment in her readiness to condemn him.   
    "You said I hated you. You were wrong."   
    His head came up and he stared at her for a long moment. "What?"   
    Fuu took his hands in hers and she looked earnestly into his face. "I'm sorry. I tried so _hard _to hate you, but it never worked." She shook her head, the tears starting up again. "I was so angry, but not at you, never at you. I was mad at myself because I had to love you." A sob tore through her and Ferio just stared, an odd feeling stirring in his chest. "I was so angry because I couldn't help loving you. Even when we were kids." Her voice broke and she put her hands to her face, crying as if her heart were being crushed beneath a giant's hand.   
    Ferio wasn't sure what exactly to make of this, but if it wasn't a dream he knew exactly what to do next. He took down her hands and handed her a handkerchief, one that he had kept with him every day for six years. "Are you okay?" he murmured, running his hand through her hair, and Fuu sniffled delicately.   
    "Not really," she replied, not looking at him. Ferio smiled faintly and sat in the chair next to her, taking her trembling chin firmly in his hand and kissing her with every assurance that his love would be returned this time.   
    "I love you, Fuu Hououji," he told her softly, and his heart thrilled at the look he received from those brilliant emerald orbs. Ferio was then surprised as she threw her arms around him and practically knocked him over with a kiss so intense he imagined she must have been practicing it for years.   
    "It's about time," Caldina commented from the corner where she had been spying, and the two broke apart, blushing.   
    Caldina only smiled and herded them out to the car. 

~~Knights 23: Christmas~~   
"Oh, Emeraude, he's gotten so _big_!" Fuu Hououji Royal bounced little Zager Ryuuzaki on her lap, watching the three-year-old boy giggle at her through wavy black locks and shimmering blue eyes.   


    Hikaru Ryuuzaki sighed happily, watching the pair, and snuggled closer to Lantis who was very careful about his wife's healthy bulging stomach as he put his arm around her.   
    "When's the kid due?" Ferio Royal asked as he leaned over behind his friend and peered at Hikaru's stomach.   
    "In a few months," Lantis replied, and Hikaru added that "a few" meant four.   
    "Hey," Caldina and Lafarga came in as Zager hopped over to play with his newly arrived cousin Calfa, Ferio following out to make sure there was someone watching them. Caldina was cradling a baby in her arms.   
    "Oh, is that my new nephew?" Fuu asked, getting up to go and look at the little boy.   
    "Uh huh," Caldina smiled. "Lafarga Jr." she stated proudly, and the father blushed as he headed for the armchair. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked Fuu, who bit her lip, then nodded. "Cradle his head," Caldina warned, settling the baby into Fuu's arms.   
    "Oh, he's so small and sweet," Fuu cooed, looking at the child with infinite tenderness.   
    Ferio came in at just that point, seeing as the boys' grandmother was in the yard to watch them, and smiled at the lovely scene. Fuu looked so motherly like that, holding the baby and smiling softly into it's sweet little face. Grinning, he walked over and spoke to Caldina loud enough that everyone would hear. "Don't give her any ideas, Cal."   
    Fuu looked up and smiled coyly at him. "Maybe I'll _get_ some ideas, so don't patronize me, Mr. Royal."   
    "Well, I just don't want to have to go through all that any time soon, Mrs. Royal," he replied.   
    Fuu gave a ladylike snort, "You get the fun part."   
    Ferio grinned again, thinking about what "fun part" she meant, before straightening out his thoughts. "Well, if that means getting my hand crushed as you scream at me in labor, sign me up!" He sat on the couch beside her, slipping an arm around her shoulders as Caldina took Lafarga Jr back.   
    Fuu lay her head on his shoulder and murmured, "Maybe it's too late."   
    Ferio froze and then turned to look at his wife. "You're . . ." he paused, stunned.   
    "Mm-hm, Daddy," she smiled back up at him.   
    Ferio pulled his wife to him, kissed her, and let out a cheering whoop, pulling her up and spinning her around.   
    "She's pregnant," Umi commented as she entered with Ascot.   
    "How can you tell?" he asked her, curious.   
    "Because you acted just like that," she replied, rubbing a stomach not quite as pronounced as Hikaru's and smiling. Ascot smiled and looked at his sister where she was being kissed – again – by her husband.   
    _Don't they ever stop?_

End


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